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Ferret69

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  1. Ferret69
  2. Ferret69
    Very Nice, that's a Great run at Loskop, BR definitely on the Cards I did the RouteTester Sunday from PMB - Hillcrest, as I said last week it could go one of 2 ways... Either scare me to Death or give me some proper Confidence. Well, It did BOTH The first 60kms of that "Down" Route are no joke. 921m Elevation and only 860m of Descent meaning Point to Point its actually climbing to 60kms in Hillcrest before the proper descents start.. The named hills are tough,the un-named climbs come often and are just as Long and tough. The first 25kms are up most of the way and need to be given respect. Was an eye opener running it without the early crowds and the first hour darkness. We ran in the A bunch (billed as the 5min per km/silver hopefuls) and we (me and 2 Jhb mates) joined a group of 6 Durban Old Boys with a Wealth of Comrades experience and knowledge (about 30 silvers between them, all with Sub7 bests). Was Great to pick their brains all day on pacing and which sections to hold back and which ones to make some minutes.. Ended up running the 60kms @ 4.52 per km average in 4h52. Went through Drummond in 3h36 which is apparently the magic number for either a hang on silver or on a good Day closer to 7.15 Last Marathon Sunday at Slowmag, 2 x 32s next week and then the taper can start... So far so good, lets just keep the injuries at bay and stay healthy
  3. Ferret69
    in 2012 without any Detours I got
  4. Ferret69
    44 Days ... Crazy We doing the 57.3km Route Tester Sunday from PMB to Hillcrest, could go one of 2 ways... scare the sh-t outta us or give us some proper confidence for Race day. Then our Final marathon at Slowmag next weekend. Forced to take 3 days off this week with a touch of man Flu but will hopefully get out there this evening for an easy 40mins and see where the chest is at. Note quite weather predictions time, but the official route distance announcement should be out soon. It was about this time last year they threw the 1.2km detour through Pinetown at us... Holding thumbs for no Surprises and anything 89.9kms or less will be a bonus..
  5. Ferret69
    I'm still alive and kicking... Got a little bit of Man flu over the last week, tried to run through the 28/32km weekend but caught me Sunday night so taking a few days off to recover... Lucky I'm slightly ahead of my mileage so can afford a few days to get well before the Route Tester 57km Sunday. apart from the normal aches, pains, niggle, runny noses and slight colds everything is still going to plan... 7 weeks to go ...
  6. Ferret69
    Just had a Quick look at the LP Silver April Hours on the Comrades Website and they hit 43 hours this month. At 4.30 per km to 5min per km you looking 516 - 580kms, Big Month
  7. Ferret69
    Interesting So I would deduce the average Bronze Hopeful would be training at between 5.30-6 min per km so April would be between 320 and 355 kms for a Bronze Runner based on 32 hours If you took those same Hours for a 4.30per km (training paces) Silver runner or 5min per km BR hopeful you would get 385 - 435 kms And I'm pretty sure the Hours will be even higher on those programs
  8. Ferret69
    Nothing Wrong with that, I ran my 1st Comrades in 2012 on only 690kms run , my second in 2013 on 900kms... so its not all about just loading miles... Once you get past 50/60kms on the day its all in the Mind anyway...
  9. Ferret69
    Yeah , not far off, I did a 400km Jan, 417km Feb, 501km March and looking at around 510km April and then a full back off and BIG taper with around 200-250 May. I won't do any Major Big weeks in the 140-160 range like a lot of the Silver guys do, but try and stay consistently around the 120-125 mark for the 4.5 weeks of April To finish on around 2050km If everything goes to Plan, but 1950 is the goal so anything around there will be awesome.. Again this is all very new to me. I've haven't got a silver yet and only did 1340kms on the way to my 8.02 on the UP last year... So I can tell you again on the 30th May if this plan is going to work. So far so good though
  10. Ferret69
    Giving Loskop a miss this year to do the Route Tester 56km on the same day from PMB to Hillcrest.. Haven't done the down run since 2012 so will be nice to see the first 56kms of the route. Good Luck for Loskop..
  11. Ferret69
    https://www.discovery.co.za/discovery_coza/web/linked_content/pdfs/vitality/team_vitality/vitality_race_events_calendar.pdf So that's the new Race link, a couple of Trail runs that clearly pay discovery to get People there Over the next 5 weeks I am running, Denel 21km (last Saturday), Allan Robb 32km, Slowmag 42km, Cradle 32km and Colgate 32km All races that have been around and on the Calendar for Years How many are on the Discovery List ? 0 So my initial plan of just running a race a week after my Points goal gets back to 1200 is gone.. So instead of running a Marathon on a weekend they believe a 5km Park run is better and worth more points... And before you tell me to wear a HR monitor, I already do and to hit 70% on a Long slow comrades training run is almost impossible for me , so again 0 Points Am I missing something?
  12. Ferret69
    Well Done Dracs, just finishing any Ultra is an achievement in itself.. Don't think about Comrades being 34kms further, its another race on another day.. Your mind was only prepared for 56km Saturday, on the 29th May it will be prepped and ready for 90kms.. Personally my race couldn't have gone better on Saturday and another confidence tick on the way to Comrades.. we planned a 4.20 with a 2h07 half, 3h13 Marathon split and pretty much went to plan. The weather was almost too perfect in the first 21kms down to Fish hoek.. one found themselves purposely trying to slow themselves down to avoid hitting the half way mark too far ahead of schedule.. we went through just over 2h06 and then got greeted by some pretty angry gusts of wind on the way up Chappies.. luckily they were only few and far between and the climb wasn't as bad as expected. My hardest part of the day was also coming down the other side of Chappies. 4kms of pounding on the legs on that camber is not for girls and I found myself thinking I need to get back in the gym and up the Leg sessions before May . Always nice seeing the crowds in Houtbay and we climbed out quite comfortably to the Marathon mark in 3h12.30 right on track. At this point I felt great and decided to change my race plan and see where the legs were at. I put in a solid last 14kms in just over an Hour to finish in 4h13.29 still in high spirits and feeling strong. The fact I could run 5min kms up the Nek tell me the hill sessions are definitely paying off. The new Colour Chet Sainsburg medal (sub5) on the year of his death is quite pretty and ill always be proud to have it in my collection. 9 weeks to go now, a solid 500km April and I can probably afford (and will probably take) a full 3 week taper into race day... Just under 1300kms done now and still on Track to hit the 2000km Mark... Route Tester in 3 weeks... which will be the last little test followed by an easy Slowmag marathon the week after
  13. Ferret69
    Thanks, so far the CT Weather looks like its going to play ball on Saturday Should be a god day out
  14. Ferret69
    When I say comfortably I mean from a HR point of view... I train and race very much on HR so even though I can control that nothing about 56kms is easy.. The legs will still get tired and sore and the mind still needs to stay sharp and with it for the full 4hrs. From a Training Point of view , No I don't use LP's online programmes but I do use a lot of his training theories and I have chatted to him on a few occasions this year to get some advice and confirmation that what I'm doing is on track. I think the online programmes are obviously very generic and although they will get you through comrades it doesn't necessarily mean it will get you to your optimal potential. And lets not forget he makes his living from coaching people, so if he put all his secrets on a generic programme he would be cutting off his living.. I stick to his theories of never increasing week on week mileage by more than 10%, but plan my own programmes and adapt and change them as I feel necessary.
  15. Ferret69
    Yep, Racing is done for the year. No use trying to better seeding's now unless it can be done with an easy effort. I actually haven't "raced" anything over 21kms since my 2 hard marathons in September and November last year. But as you said I do focus on one gym session, one hill session and one TT or Track session per week to keep the speed and strength up, and I run back to back long runs on weekends (usually 20/30) to get the feeling of running my long runs on tired legs.. But you have hit the nail on the head... April May is about avoiding injury or illness by still trying to pick up the miles..
  16. Ferret69
    Yep, he had a good comfortable ODD and snuck under 4 which was great. I'm using Oceans as my ultra (also hopefully a comfortable 4.20ish) and then we are both doing the Route tester 56km on the 17th April as our last long runs. And then Slowmag a week later as our final marathon. Yeah, Silver is definitely the main goal for Comrades for both of us, anything quicker is a bonus but ill take 7h29.59 right now if I could. We are on very similar training plans . So far so good.. but the big miles only really start now in April.... but we all know its only what happens on the day that really counts.
  17. Ferret69
    Cant Agree more, I'm 38 now and this year alone I've smashed my 15km and 21kms PB's from when I was 20. and also taken over 25mins off my Marathon PB from when I was 30. all in the same year.. Only PB's I'm yet to catch are the 5 and 10km... but I'm not that far off. And at 38 I feel I'm in my prime to have a proper dip at the ultras like Oceans and comrades.
  18. Ferret69
    Any Clarification of which one its going to be yet? Moderate 64-75% or 70-79%? and Vigorous 76-96 or 80%+? That 6% band could make a lot of difference on someone very fit/with a naturally low HR or in Base Training..
  19. Ferret69
    Used to be, New structure is just a basic 100 Points for 10 000+ steps 0 for anything less. So pretty much the same as any Run over 70% Ave HR for more than 30mins. Or a visit to the Gym, a Round of Golf etc etc See Multiply have amazing pricing on Garmins etc though... like the 920XT for 5k as opposed to us on the Discovery platform spending 8k and getting 25% in cash back to make it 6k.
  20. Ferret69
    All good Points and cant argue with most of them... We lived a charmed life for a while there with regards to points and rewards.. However on the highlighted point above,... it may now get you 0 points a ride if less than 70% average HR or if not wearing a HR monitor, No matter how Long it is.. And even if you are above 70% and ride for 5hours only 300 points I think that is the gripe... We went from 150 for a decent Ride/Run to 1500/3000 back to a possible 0
  21. Ferret69
    Or sit on a Golf Cart for 4 hours, drink 12 beers and get 100 Points..
  22. Ferret69
    Exactly, but some Overweight Character can walk in the gym to swipe their card to get a smoothie and get 100 Points.. Same with a 3hr Base Run... 34kms, 0 Points but at least we will get 100 Points for the 10 000+ steps. Absolute BS wherever they put your new target
  23. Ferret69
    Thanks Myles, I did see that fine print about possibly adjusting targets where need be.. But do you think this will really happen? I had many friends ask me about the Apple watch and that it was essentially free? and that the soft target would never go past 1200 so it would be easy.. I always said there would be a catch and they wouldn't give away that many free watches.. Well they haven't Moved the Goal Posts but made the field about 8x Longer... I may be wrong and maybe they will cut my target in half, but I'm not holding my breath just yet.
  24. Ferret69
    What's the Thoughts on these New Vitality Rewards points taking affect 2 April? A lot of Cyclists seem to think its all fair... As Runners not so Much.. To start I haven't bought the watch, I have a national Virgin membership so get no benefits there... and even though I do take advantage of my 2 smoothies a week it isn't the be all and end all.... however the Free flights were looking appealing. And obviously staying on Diamond is a Must so I need my 90 000. I'm a pretty Decent Runner training for a Silver Comrades, i'm fit and have a very Low HR... Not blowing my own trumpet but setting the scene.. My Current Vitality Goal is the soft max at 1200 and has been from day 1. Lets take a Hard weeks training in April.. based on the fact I run 6 days a week, 2 at High Intensity and 4 at lower intensity... New Points HR value takes Moderate from 70-79% and Vigorous from 80% + I'm 38 so my Moderate is 126+ and Vigorous 146+ Monday - 12kms - approx. 56 mins - 4.40 per km - +- 128 HR - Moderate - 100 Points Tuesday - 15kms with Track/Intervals etc -63 mins - 4.10 per km +- 140HR with rests - 100 Points Wednesday - Midweek Long Run 22kms - 1h40 - 4.45 per k - 128HR - 300 Points Thursday - 15kms with Hills - 67 mins - 4.30 per km - 140 HR with Rest - 100 Points Friday Rest Saturday - 15 km Easy - 5 min per km - 75mins - 123 HR - 100 Points (not for the 15km run as its below moderate so just for the 10 000 steps) Sunday - 35-40km Long Run - 4.45 per km - 133 HR - 300 Points So that's a 119km running Week, pretty solid - 1000 Points???? I'm on the hub strava group so you can check that's about a normal week at normal paces and HR readings.. Even if I do my Gym at Virgin on my Rest Day ill get an extra 100 - still not there. No Smoothie, No target , No Reward.. How is this fair when other people only have to swipe their card at a Gym to get the same 100 points I will get for a 15km run at 4.30 per km?? If I change my intensities to get over the 146HR or increase any of my midweek runs to get over 90mins this will play havoc with my base Training and is obviously not worth wrecking your Comrades fro a few smoothies.. Only way I see around this is making sure you do a Road race at least once a week for the Bigger event Points... What's your thoughts once you have done the Math... Sorry for the long winded write up.. Maybe at least they should go back to different points allocation for Riding and Running as its a lot easier to ride 90 mins than run 90mins, although its still a lot harder to get your HR to 80% on the bike in my opinion..
  25. Ferret69
    So on a Completely different topic What's the Thoughts on these New Vitality Rewards points taking affect 2 April? If you haven't seen what's coming yet let me know and ill post the new Structure.. Before you send me packing to the other forum I'm asking here as most Cyclists believe 4 x 90min cycles a week will get them their easy and no problem.. As Runners not so Much.. To start I haven't bought the watch, I have a national Virgin membership so get no benefits there... and even though I do take advantage of my 2 smoothies a week it isn't the be all and end all.... however the Free flights were looking appealing. And obviously staying on Diamond is a Must so I need my 90 000. I'm a pretty Decent Runner training for a Silver Comrades, i'm fit and have a very Low HR... Not blowing my own trumpet but setting the scene.. My Current Vitality Goal is the soft max at 1200 and has been from day 1. Lets take a Hard weeks training in April.. based on the fact I run 6 days a week, 2 at High Intensity and 4 at lower intensity... New Points HR value takes Moderate from 70-79% and Vigorous from 80% + I'm 38 so my Moderate is 126+ and Vigorous 146+ Monday - 12kms - approx. 56 mins - 4.40 per km - +- 128 HR - Moderate - 100 Points Tuesday - 15kms with Track/Intervals etc -63 mins - 4.10 per km +- 140HR with rests - 100 Points Wednesday - Midweek Long Run 22kms - 1h40 - 4.45 per k - 128HR - 300 Points Thursday - 15kms with Hills - 67 mins - 4.30 per km - 140 HR with Rest - 100 Points Friday Rest Saturday - 15 km Easy - 5 min per km - 75mins - 123 HR - 100 Points (not for the 15km run as its below moderate so just for the 10 000 steps) Sunday - 35-40km Long Run - 4.45 per km - 133 HR - 300 Points So that's a 119km Week, pretty solid - 1000 Points???? I'm on the hub strava group so you can check that's about a normal week at normal paces and HR readings.. Even if I do my Gym at Virgin on my Rest Day ill get an extra 100 - still not there. No Smoothie, No target , No Reward.. How is this fair when other people only have to swipe their card at a Gym to get the same 100 points I will get for a 15km run at 4.30 per km?? If I change my intensities to get over the 146HR or increase any of my midweek runs to get over 90mins this will play havoc with my base Training and is obviously not worth wrecking your Comrades fro a few smoothies.. Only way I see around this is making sire you do a Road race at least once a week for the Bigger event Points... What's your thoughts once you have done the Math... Sorry for the long winded write up..
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